Method of making metal wheels.



W. H. WILLIAMS.

METHOD OF MAKING METAL WHEELS.

APPLICATION FILED AUGflS, 1912.

Patented Dec. 1, 1914.

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W. E. WILLIAMS. METHOD OF MAKING METAL WHEELS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.15, 1912.

1,118,986. Patented Dec. 1, 1914.

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WILLIAM ERASTUS WILLIAMS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

METHOD OF MAKING METAL WHEELS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1, 19141.

Application filed August 15, 1912. Serial No. 715,236.

To alt whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM En'As'rUsWILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States,

- with a residence .at Chicago, in the county of Cook, in the State'ofIllinois, and a postoffice address at .331 South Clinton street, in saidcity, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Methods of MakingMetal -Wheels, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates more particularly to car wheels than any other, butmay be used for other purposes.

For car wheels it is desirable to have a" very hard, tough and durablewearing tread on the rim and to have a strong, safe, light and cheapbody or central portion, or web as it is sometimes called. The hub mustbe soft enough to permit machining, but it is desirable to have the rimso hard for wearing purposes that it cannot be machined except bygrinding. The parts which connect the. hub with the tread or rim must besufficiently strong and not be liable to be cracked by shocks or be overstrained by severe variations in temperature, occasioned by the heatdeveloped by long application of the brake shoe on the rim of the wheelwhen the train is going down long and severe inclines, the greatest ofwhich occur in the mountainous regions. Thus it practically requiresthree kinds of metal to properly make a wheel, namely :a tough and veryhard tread, a strong and machinable hub, a strong, light and elastic webthat connects the hub with the rim. Such a construction I obtain by myinvention.

Reference will be had to the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 isa perspective view of'the web section. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the websection. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the web. The above three figuresshow the web formed ready to be used in my method of making the wheel.Fig. 4 shows the wheel partly made by my method after the rim and webhave been formed together. Fig. 5 shows the next operation in the methodafter the form shown in Fig. 4, is made. Fig. 6 is the completed wheel.Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are central sections.

In making my wheels I first take a strip of metal the equal in width tothe width or radius required for the web of the wheel and of asuiiicient length to equal the circumference of the desired web. Thisprimarily plane, approximately rectangular sheet is curved laterally oredge wise to form a disk, by giving it transverse corrugations alltapering in the same direction, thereby bringing together what were atthe outset end margins of the sheet, which marginal portions are thenunited by welding or by any other suitable means. In making this disk Imay first form the sheet into a tube the length slightly greater thanthe radius and the circumference equaling the circumference of therequired disk and then by tapering corrugations form this tube down intoa disk such as my drawings show, it being clear that if each corrugationis properly tapered, one end of the cylinder will be re .duced indiameter much more than the other end, so that the short cylinder willbecome frustum 01' even a true disk. However, with my method ofmanufacturing I do not bring it down flat at first, but allow the diskto margin the corrugations are slight and they increase in depth towardthe hub. The depth of the corrugations at the hub is such that there isjust as much metal in the web around the-hub hole 3, as on the line ofany circle concentric with the hub. The nature of this disk when formedthus is such that it may be expanded or contracted in diameter to aconsiderable extent with little or no injury to the metal of the disk,the dis tances being taken up or let out by the bending of the sheet atthe curves of the corrugation corners, The cone of the disk facilitatesthis contraction or expanding movement.

After the cone is formed as is shown by Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the disk isthen placed in a suitable holding device which has an apparatus forexpanding thedisk somewhat beyond its normal diameter. This device willbe the subject ofanother patent and .is not shown here. Then the tire orrim 4: is cast thereon, or welded on when hot by any suitable means.However, I prefer to make what is known as a cast weld, casting thecompleted tire or rim upon the peripheral portion of the web by pouringinto the molds wherein is held the corrugated center molten metal of asuitable kind to formvthe tire or tread, the heat of the molten metalfusing a complete union of the metal of the Web and that of the tire ortread.

I prefer to use manganese cast steel for the tire or rim but any othersuitable material may be used. The manganese steel has shown itself tobe the most durable for the wearing parts of rails and treads of carWheels of any cheap commercial steel, but it is too hard to be machinedeasily and is not suitable for any part of the wheel except the tread.

After the casting of the tire is completed and before the intenseshrinkage takes place due to the great cooling of the metal I loosen theexpansion device and thus the natural elastic contraction of thecorrugated center follows in the contraction occasioned by the coolingof the tire and does not disrupt or produce severe cooling strains inthe cast on tire which would be the case were a solid center or webused.

It is not necessary at all times to use the cone of the disk and theexpansion device or either of them, in order to produce a good castingfor the tire, for in some cases the eX- pansive and contractile natureof the corrugated web permits of its being drawn together to accommodatethe contraction on the cooling of the tire without producing strainsthat would be injurious to the tire as it cools. webs, either the coneor the expansion device or both of them may be necessary.

hen the cone of the disk is used to take up the expansion a centralsection of the wheel after the tire has been put on- Will look like Fig.4. Then after the tire has cooled sufficiently to be handled or isentirely cold as may be desired, in my method of manufacture the cone ofthe disk is pushed down by applying pressure around the hub hole to theform shown by. Fig. 5. The corrugations bending at their corners toaccommodate for this movement, then the parts thus made are again placedin a suitable mold and the hub 5, cast therein, making a cast weld ofthe hub to the corrugated center. This hub casting will be made of asuitable material that will permit machining such as cast steel or castiron or any suitable metal. Instead of casting in the hub 5 or castingon the tire 4, they may be welded in or on as desired. The corrugatedcenter or web 1 is made of a rolled section by preference but may bemade in any suitable manner so long as it is tough and ductile and notliable to serious injury by the bending occasioned in the method ofmanufacture which I use;

With my method of making a Wheel I am permitted to use for thecorrugated web or center material such as the best boiler plate ormaterial of similar nature that may be But with heavy disks for the1,11s,eaa

hammered, rolled and swaged When cola without serious injury and at thesame time may be exposed to severe changes in temperature withoutserious injury all of which is a great desideratum for a car Wheel Web.

Lightness and cheapness are very desirable for'wheels since the weightof the wheel must be carried up and down the grades of the railroad andthe lighter it is the less the cost for motive power. In the case ofelectric railroads Where the gradients are sometimes very steep, thedifference in the cost of current in hauling cars with my wheels overthat of the heavier styles will soon save the first cost of the wheels.

I am enabled by my method of construction to make a wheel less expensiveand much lighter for a given strength than any car wheel heretoforeused, so far as I am aware, and at the same time to secure a moredurable tread than is obtained by usual methods.

What I claim is:

1. The method of making metal Wheels which consists in providing aradially corrugated central body or web of pliable metal, integrallyuniting said web with a circumferential rim by means of heat, and afterallowing cooling contraction of the rim adding a hub to said body. Themethod of making metal Wheels which consists in forming a conical Wheelweb of corrugated metal, integrally securing av wheel rim to the base ofthe cone, and thereafter forcing the cone into disk form and adding acentral hub thereto.

3. The method of making metal wheels which consists in forming anexpansible to contract with the cooling contraction of said rim.

l. The method of making metal wheels which consists in forming anexpansible wheel body web, mechanically increasing the normal diameterof the Web and holding it in expanded condition, integrally uniting ahighly heated rim to the periphery of said web, releasing the expandedweb from the holding devices to permit it to contract with the coolingcontraction of the rim, and casting a central hub upon the contractedWeb- In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name on this 7th dayof August, 1912 in the presence of two subscribing Wit nesses.

WILLIAM ERASTUS WILLIAMS.

w ltnesses:

VICTOR J. BASENER, A. G. LUDIcK.

